Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

Jeremiah 23:5-6 

Jeremiah wrote with a clear sight of Christ. The text we have been considering for the past few days, from Jeremiah 51:10 says, ‘The LORD has revealed our righteousness.’ In the strictest of contextual interpretations, this refers to God’s vindication of Israel by His destructive judgment of Babylon, their oppressors. In a broader context it refers to Christ, Our Righteousness. Other passages in Jeremiah’s prophecy make this abundantly clear, as our text for today indicates. The previous portion of the chapter from which our text derives, is full of encouragement to Israel that God would restore them in future days. He promises to bring them back from captivity in Babylon. He speaks of celebrations of weddings, the restoration of flocks and the rebuilding of the nation’s prosperity. In the midst of those encouragements He speaks of Christ. No one who is at all familiar with the Scriptures can mistake that this is Christ. It describes His Person and declares His work. Thus, Jeremiah preached Christ, Our Righteousness. He is but one of many in the Old Testament who did so. The New Testament writers did the same. We follow them, as they followed Christ. 

Our Great and Gracious God, 
we rejoice that Christ is the message of Your Word. 
We praise You that from beginning to end, 
wherever we look, He is there.  

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

Jeremiah 23:5-6 

The Old Testament is full of Christ. As the New Testament remarks, ‘to Him give all the prophets witness.’ Jeremiah is clear about his references to Christ. In the passage from which our text derives Jeremiah is quoting God, Who is decidedly displeased with the spiritual leaders of Israel. He accuses them of many evils, ‘Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture! Says the LORD. Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel Against the shepherds who feed My people: You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings, says the LORD.’ By contrast, in our text, He refers to Christ as, ‘a Branch of righteousness, a King’ and ‘THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.’ Paul picks up this idea in I Corinthians when he says, ‘But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God – and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.’ It is critically important for us to understand Christ as our righteousness. God accepts us on the basis of the righteousness of Christ imputed to us. He is literally our righteousness. We stand utterly and completely upon His merits. This removes every idea of gaining favor with God through rites, ceremonies, or good works. Christ has been, is, and ever shall be the only Person by Whom God will accept us. As the Apostles said, ‘Neither is there salvation in any other….’ We have every reason to make much of Christ.  

Great God of wonders, 
we rejoice that you have revealed Christ unto us. 
We praise You that His righteousness, 
is all we need. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

The LORD has revealed our righteousness. Come and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God. 

Jeremiah 51:10 

Our text is a gem, shining forth from a dark background. Jeremiah is writing of God’s judgment of the Chaldeans. They had overrun Israel years before. God had promised that He would eventually punish them after he had used them to punish Israel. Jeremiah is writing in graphic terms how the judgment of Babylon would look.  This was the destruction of a world power. In the midst of his description he makes the statement which forms our text. He says, ‘The LORD has revealed our righteousness.’ Taken on the surface, this refers to the vindication of Israel because God is dealing with those who have oppressed and enslaved them. There are ways to view this text in a much larger context. This brings us to Christ. Christ is our Righteousness. Jeremiah had made direct references to this earlier in his prophecy. He wrote, ‘Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, that I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.’ This is a clear reference to Christ. When we look at the dark background of the judgment of God against a wicked nation, the concept of God revealing Christ as our righteousness shines bright before our eyes. Even in the midst of wrath, Christ still shines.   

Our Wise and Wonderful God, 
we rejoice that You make much of Christ. 
We praise You that page after page of Your Word, 
reveals Him to us.  

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning